Single-button actuated slow make and break switch



5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS John E. Asp/0W0 Robe/f h! Ben/lay Byf/ze/rqf/om eys R. H. BE NTLEY ETAL SINGLE-BUTTON ACTUATEED SLOW MAKE ANDBREAK SWITCH F/G. Z

May 5, 1959 Filed Nov. 6, 1956 22 Q KLW,

y 1959 R. H. BENTLEY ETAL 2,885,515

SINGLE-BUTTON ACTUATED SLOW MAKE AND BREAK SWITCH Filed Nov. 6, 1956 5Sheets-Sheet 2 1% I I h INVENTORS John E. Asp/hwal/ Robert H. Benf/ey Bytheir af/omeys MMM M y 5,1959 R. H. BENTLEY ETAL 2,885,515

SINGLE-BUTTON ACTUATED SLOW MAKE AND BREAK swncn Filed Nov. 6, 1956s'sheets-sheetz INVENTORS John [I Aspinwal/ Robert H. Bentley 5 theirattorneys ited States Patet SINGLE-BUTTON ACTUATED SLOW MAKE AND BREAKSWITCH Robert H. Bentley, Hartford, and John E. Aspinwall, BoltonCenter, Conn., assignors to The Arrow-Hart & Hegeman Electric Company,Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 6,1956, Serial No. 620,658

8 Claims. (Cl. 200-456) This invention relates to electric switchmechanisms and more particularly to mechanisms for slow making andbreaking engagement of ,switch contacts, preferably successivelydepressed.

Objects of the invention are to provide a single-push button operatedswitch of the slow-make-and-break type which is certain and reliable inoperation over long periods, which may be made mainly from sheetmaterials or molded insulation parts, which may be easily andeconomically assembled and which is adapted to single or double pole orthree or four way usage. 1

- Other objects of the invention will appear as it is described inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a switch embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the switch of Fig. l with the cover andsupporting bridge removed.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rotor.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view in side elevation of the push button returnsprings and guide member.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate two other forms of push button and pawlstructure.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate two other forms of catch to prevent returnrotation of the rotor.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation view partly broken away and in longitudinalsection of another form of fixed and movable contact arrangement.

Figs. 11 and 12 are perspective views of the fixed contact and terminaland of the movable contact and terminal, respectively, of Fig. 10.

Referring to Figs. l-S, the parts are mounted within an insulatingcasing comprising cover and base portions 10, 12. The base is hollowedout to receive the various parts hereinafter described. The coverportion fits upon and overlies the base which has a rectangular opening16 in its center in which is mounted a depressible button 14. The coverand the base are held together by securing screws 18 passing throughholes bored through the bottom of the base and through the cover, andthreading into tapped holes in a metallic mounting strap or bridge 20which lies upon the cover and fit's'in a molded recess in the topsurface thereof. A hole is formed in the center of the bridge to permitthe button to reciprocate through it. Four shoulders 22 are formed atthe inner corners of the button and project laterally outward from thesides thereof, so as to engage with the, under or inner surface of thebridge when the button is spring-pressed outwardly to the maximum of itstravel. The shoulders limit the movement of the button in an outwarddirection.

The button is hollowed out to receive a -U-shaped guide member stampedfrom sheet metal having legs 31, 32 extending inwardly into the casing.The transverse portion 33 of the guide member is lodged adjacent theceiling of the button. Coiled compression sprmgs 34 each have one endseated on the bottom of parallel spaced bores running from front to backin the base 12. Their other ends are around fingers 35 extending fromthe lower or inner ends of the legs 31, 32 and engage shoulders 36between the fingers and legs to push the guide member and push button upuntil stopped by the push button shoulders 22 engaging the bridge 20.

Mounted upon a rod 24 within the button 14 and parallel to thetransverse portion of the guide member is a coiled compression spring26, one end of which presses againstone of the legs of the guide memberwhile the other end presses a pushing or spacing sleeve 27 on the rodwhich, in turn, presses against a pawl member 38. The pawl member 38made of Bakelite or other suitable material is spaced from the oppositeleg of the guide member by .a spacing washer or bushing 28. In thisfashion, the pawl is resiliently held upon the rod by the spring. Thereis an aperture through the top of the pawl for the rod to pass through,the aperture being large enough to permit the pawl to tilt on the rod 24as the button is depressed, as will hereinafter more fully appear. Thelower end of the pawl 38 is inclined inwardly and is adapted to engage aradial face on one or another of a series of ratchet teeth 42 around theperiphery of an insulating rotor or switch contact actuating member..The rotor ispreferably a molded insulation member.

As viewed in Fig. 4, this member comprises journal the radial surfacetoward the periphery of the rotor body.

As the button 14 is depressed, the pawl 38 engages with the fiat radialsurface of the teeth, causing rotation of the rotor until the button isfully depressed. As the button reaches the lower end of its depression,the inner end of the pawl is required by the body of the rotor to moveradially outward slightly. This outward movement or tilting of the pawl38 is permitted by reason of the spring mounting of the upper end of thepawl upon the rod, as hereinbefore described.

For operating flexible movable contact members such as 50, thecam-actuating extensions of alternate ratchet teeth overlie and engagethe surface of the movable contact member.

The movable contact 50 consists of a flexible strip of thin sheet metalextending lengthwise of the casing, being anchored on one end byattachment to a terminal plate 52 conventionally held in slots runningfrom front to back of the casing. The other or free end on the contacthas contact button 54 on its top or bottom surfaces,

-' or both, for engagement with fixed contact buttons 56,

57 on conventional terminal plates 58, 59 also fitted in slots in thecasing.

When the rotor-is in the position shown in Fig. 3, the high point of.one of the contact engaging cam-actuating extensions 44 is in-eng'a'ger'nent with the movable contact 50 and has moved it as far aspossible to cause disengagement of the upper button 54 on the end of thecontact from the top fixed contact button 56 overlying the same.

The next time the operating button 14 is depressed,

the rotor will be caused to move 60. Since there is no contact engagingextension on alternate ratchet teeth, there is a space which permits themovable contact to rise by its inherent spring bias to cause the topcontact button to engage with the top fixed contact again. The switchmay be made in single-pole, double-pole, threeway or four-way form.

In order to prevent the rotor from reversely rotating after it has beenmoved to cause opening or closing of the switch contact, a locking catch60 in the form of a small flat plate stamped from sheet material isreciprocatively mounted in diametrically opposite slots in the sides ofa bore in the bottom of the base. A coiled compression spring 62 islocated between the catch and the bottom of such bore. The upper end ofthe catch 60 engages the flat or radial surface of the ratchet teethand, thus, prevents reverse rotation as may readily be seen by referenceto Fig. 3. Upon the next rotation of the rotor, the curved inclinedsurface of the next ratchet tooth will cause depression of the catchuntil the edge of the next tooth reaches the edge of the catch, at whichtime the catch will snap into locking position thus to prevent reverserotation of the rotor from the new position.

In Fig. 6 another form of pawl is illustrated consisting of an invertedL-shaped strip of thin metal stamped from Phosphor bronze or otherresilient metal. In this and in other subsequent forms, like referencenumerals represent like parts of the previous described form; andequivalent parts of different configurations are represented byreference numerals in different hundreds.

One leg 137 lies flush against the ceiling of the button 114 and betweenit and the transverse portion 133 of the spring guide member 30. Anaperture is provided, in this transverse portion, for the other leg 138of the pawl to extend through toward the rotor 40. The inner end of theleg 138 is bent toward the rotor so as to engage the ratchet teeth asthe button is depressed. Due to the resilient nature of the pawl, theleg 138 may flex laterally or radially away from the rotor as theoperating button 114 is depressed, in a manner similar to the tilting ofthe pawl 38 in the previously described form.

Nubs 114' may be formed on the interior surface or ceiling of theoperating button 114 passing through apertures stamped in the leg 137and having a friction fit therewith, if desired.

The spring guide 30 presses against the leg 137 also tending to hold thepawl in place.

In Fig. 7, another form of pawl is illustrated. The pawl in Fig. 7 isformed from nylon and is of generally cross shape. One member 337 of.the cross is parallel to the ceiling of the button while the other, 338,extends perpendicularly thereto with one end being longer than the otherand extending down toward the rotor. The end of the extending leg 338 isturnedtoward the rotor. Due to the resilience of nylon, whenthe-inturned end of the member 338 is flexed by the rotor, as the'buttonis depressed, it can move laterally (see dotted lines). At that sametime, the member 337 of the pawl may bend (see dotted lines). As thebutton is restored when finger pressure is removed therefrom, the pawlwill return to its original condition as illustrated in full lines.

In Fig. 8, there is illustrated an alternate form of catch forpreventing reverse rotation of the rotor. In this figure, the catch islocated in the recess in which one of the return springs 34 is located,the recess being enlarged and made rectangular to accommodate the catch.The catch consists of a U-shaped thin sheet metal strip having one leg263 longer than the other and with the end of the longer leg turnedtoward the rotor. The other leg 261 is supported by the base 312 whenthe longer leg is put under lateral stress. The return spring 34 restsat its bottom upon the transverse portion 265 of this catch member. Theleg 263, being flexible, will move laterally as the rotor turns topermit the rotor teeth to pass over d; the inturned end which thereafterwill snap behind each tooth in succession, preventing reverse rotation.

In Fig. 9, a third form of catch is illustrated. In this instance, thecatch is made from nylon or other similar flexible material and isformed in L-shape. A bottom leg 463 of the L rests upon the floor of thecasing and is secured thereto by a rivet 464 which passes through thebottom of the casing and through a hole punched in the leg 463. Theother leg 461 of the catch extends up wardly from the bottom of the basetoward the rotor and is formed arcuately at its upper end to fit aroundthe curvature of the ratchet teeth. Due to the flexibility of thematerial from which the catch is made, the leg 461 may move laterally asthe rotor is turned and as each ratchet tooth presses against the end ofthe catch. After passing over the edge of a tooth, the catch will snapinto its original position as illustrated in Fig. 9 to prevent returnrotation of the rotor.

In Fig. 10, another form of a combined terminal and fixed contact memberand ofmovable contact for cooperation therewith is illustrated. In thisform, the movable contact 550 is a strip of thin flexible metalextending longitudinally of the casing as in Figs. 2 and 3. The movablecontact, however, need not necessarily have a hump in the center thereofbut is straight, as illustrated. The left end of the contact (as viewedin Fig. 10) is connected with a combined terminal and contact mountingmember 552 which is stamped from sheet metal into L-shape with one part552s lying along the interior side surface of the base and the otherpart 552a lying along the interior surface of the end wall of the baseand extending upward nearly to the top of the casing. On the top of thisend portion, there is a projection 553 or finger which extends throughan aperture 551 inthe end of the movable contact strip 550 and is peenedover thus to hold the movable contact strip upon the top of the endportion 552e of the terminal.

In this form, the other end of the movable contact (the right end asillustrated in Fig. 10) instead of being free to move, is pressed downon a shoulder 500s formed in the end of the casing just below the topedge thereof. The flexible contact is thus supported at both ends. Therotor imparts pressure at the center of the movable contact 550 and thusholds the right end upon the shoulder 500s, the left end being held onthe terminal and support member 552.

A movable contact button 554 is mounted upon the flexible contact memberbetween the point of engagement of that member by the rotor and theshoulder-engaging end. This movable contact button is adapted to engageand be separated from a fixed contact button 556 mounted above it on anoverhanging arm 557 which is bent inwardly of the casing from an upwardextension of the side 558s of the contact-supporting and terminalmember. This contact-supporting and terminal member may conveniently bestamped from sheet metal into the form shown in Fig. 11. As there shown,the body portion 558s is adapted to lie along the side of the casing andhas, in addition to the upward contact supporting extension, anotherextension 558a situated generally midway along the upper edge of thebody portion which is adapted to be engaged at its top by the cover ofthe casing, thus to hold the terminal member down in place.

The terminal member is bent into L shape, providing an end portion 558ewhich lies along the end wall of the casing. The edge of the end portionof the terminal and contact supporting member may lie in a vertical slotin the casing to hold the terminal from moving lengthwise in the casing.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that when the rotor is turned bydepression of the operating button 14 the movable contact will be bentdownwardly at its center, separating the movable contact button 554 fromthe fixed contact button 556 while both ends' of the movable contact550- are supported within the casing. Upon the next depression of theoperating button, the rotor will turn permitting the movable contact tomove upwardly until the movable button engages the fixed button. At thispoint, the flexible strip is still under stress (providing the necessarypressure of the movable button 554 against the fixed button) because theends of the contact strip are still maintained on their supportshereinbefore described. Thus, in both positions of the movable contact,the flexible strip is under compression. This avoids bouncing orchattering of the movable contact button against the fixed contactbutton.

In order to increase the flexibility of the strip at the end thereofnearer the contact button 554, a longitudinal slot 550s is formedtherein running from near the button toward the end, or entirely to theend, if desired.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that we have provided a numberof forms in which our invention may be embodied in a singlepush-button-actuated switch mechanism whose parts may be easily andeconomically formed from conventional and readily available materials,and which may be assembled readily. In usage, the invention is positivein operation and reliable for many thousands of successive operations.

Many modifications within the scope of the invention will occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is not limited to thespecific embodiments illustrated and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electric switch, a hollow insulating base, a hollow depressiblepush button, means to restore said button to original position whenmanual pressure is released, a rotor operable by movement of saidbutton, a rod transversely mounted in said button, a pawl slidablymounted on said rod, spring means on said rod resiliently maintainingsaid pawl in a predetermined position thereon, said pawl beingengageable with said rotor to move it as said button is moved, aflexible contact member engaged and movable by said rotor between twoswitching positions, a fixed contact engageable by said movable contactmember in one of its positions.

2. In an electric switch, a hollow insulating base, a depressible pushbutton, means to restore said button to original position when manualpressure is released, a rotor having teeth thereon, a pawl movableconcomitantly with said button and engageable with said rotor to turnthe rotor, a movable contact operable by said rotor as said rotor turns,a fixed contact engageable by said movable contact in one positionthereof, means to positively prevent reverse rotation of said rotorcomprising a resilient U-shaped catch member mounted in said base andbiased to engage with said rotor and having a leg engageable with saidrotor and a second leg parallel to the first and supported by a wall insaid base, said restoring means comprising a U-shaped guide memberseated in said button and having legs extending into said base, andsprings engaging said legs, one of said springs being between the legsof the catch member.

3. An electric switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein said restoring meanscomprises a U-shaped guide member seated in said button straddling saidmotor and having legs in said base, and springs engaging said legsbiasing said guide member and button.

4. In an electric switch, a hollow insulating base, a depressible pushbutton, means to restore said button to original position when manualpressure is released comprising a U-shaped guide member seated in saidbutton and having legs extending into said base, springs engaging saidlegs biasing said guide member and button, a rotor having teeth thereon,a pawl movable concomitantly with said button and engageable with saidrotor to turn the rotor, a movable contact operable by said rotor assaid rotor turns, a fixed contact engageable by said movable contact inone position thereof, means to positively prevent reverse rotation ofsaid rotor comprising a catch separate from said button and biased intoengagement with the rotor and mounted in said base, the rotor engagingportion of said catch being movable radially away from said rotor as thelatter turns and snapping behind successive teeth as the rotor turns,thereby preventing reverse rotation from successive rotor positions.

5. An electric switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means topositively prevent reverse rotation of said rotor comprises a catchmember slidable radially with respect to the rotor in slots in the base,and spring means in the base pressing said catch toward said rotor forsnapping behind successive teeth as said rotor turns.

6. An electric switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means topositively prevent reverse rotation of said rotor comprises a resilientcatch having an arm engageable with said rotor and a second arm at anangle to the first supported from the base, the rotor engaging portionof said first arm being movable radially from the rotor and adapted tosnap behind successive teeth thereon.

7. An electric switch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means topositively prevent reverse rotation of said rotor comprises a resilientU-shaped catch member mounted in said base and having a leg biased intoengagement with said rotor, and a second leg parallel to the first andsupported by a wall in said base.

8. In an electric switch, a hollow insulating base, a hollow depressiblepush button, means to restore said button to original position whenmanual pressure is released comprising a U-shaped member straddling saidrotor and having its transverse portion within said button and its legsextending into said base, spring means in the base biasing said U-memberand button, a rotor operable by movement of said button and having aratchet portion thereon, a pawl mounted within said button comprising aresilient member having one leg extending interiorly toward the rotorand a second leg at an angle to the first supported transversely of thebutton and flexing to enable tilting of said first leg toward and fromsaid rotor, said second leg of the pawl being parallel to the transverseportion of the U-member and the first leg of the pawl being parallel tothe legs of the U-member, said pawl being engageable with said ratchetportion to turn said rotor, a flexible contact member engaged andmovable by said rotor between two switching positions, and a fixedcontact engageable by said movable contact member in one of itspositions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,238,382 Biddle Aug. 28, 1917 2,451,105 Macnamara Oct. 12, 19482,675,442 Van Ryan Apr. 13, 1954 2,695,336 Sengebusch Nov. 23, 1954

